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Wednesday, 8 February 2017

Future Accommodation Model (FAM) - Survey

Service
personnel want greater choice in deciding where they live, according to a
survey on what the Future Accommodation Model (FAM) for the Armed Forces should
look like.

Launched in
August 2016, FAM is being set up to provide the best possible accommodation better
suited to the modern Armed Forces and their families - offering a choice based
on need, not age, rank or relationship status.

The scheme
aims to give personnelgreater support in purchasing their own home
through initiatives such as the ‘Help to Buy Scheme’ which helps military
personnel purchase their first home, and has proven popular with those in lower
ranks.

It will also
include the option of renting privately, with £450 million being spent to
subsidise costs. For those renting,
allowances will adjust so that personnel based in more expensive areas will not
pay more, so a three-bed
property in Cornwall will cost them the same as a three-bed property in London.
By giving service personnel greater choice in where they get to live it can
also offer more opportunities for military families, like increasing employment
prospects for partners and spouses.

Taking place
between September and October 2016, this survey is part of an on-going
consultation toinform
the Ministry of Defence (MOD) accommodation policy development.

Chief of
Defence People, Lieutenant General Richard Nugee, said:

“The
Future Accommodation Model will ensure that our people are offered a greater
choice in where they want to live. Over the coming months,
we will refine how we do this and look to ensure that service personnel are
engaged and listened to every step of the way.

“This
survey will help us immeasurably to better understand what is important to
personnel when it comes to where and how they live.”

It is vital
that the accommodation system works for everybody and reflects the needs of a
modern Armed Force. This is why the MOD also refurbished 4,700 military homes
last year and is investing over £4 billion to provide better facilities for the
Armed Forces and their families.

Future
Accommodation Model survey Headline Results

FAM is considered attractive by over half of
Service personnel - with Junior Officers and Other Ranks more likely to find it
attractive then Senior Officers.

Over half of Service Personnel feel that FAM
is fairer than the current MOD accommodation offer.

The most important factor regarding
accommodation is the ability to live in good quality accommodation, while the
choice of living in either a civilian or military community is considered the
least important.

For married personnel, and those with
children, the second most important factor was the opportunity to live with
family and children.

There is a clear preference for home
ownership across the Services, with over a third of personnel preferring the
‘owning near work’ option.

If FAM were widened to include Service Family
Accommodation (SFA), offered at the same costs as the ‘Renting near work’
option, then over a third would choose it.

Some of the top reasons for choosing FAM
options were: to own a property; to choose a location near to what’s important
to people; and, because they are financially attractive.

The initial findings can be viewed here, and a second
tranche of the full data tables will be published in March.

The Ministry
of Defence will also be taking into account other evidence gathered, including
results from the FAM focus groups and the survey results of the single Service
Family Federations, which asked family members and partners of Service
personnel for their opinions.

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